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Banning Assault Weapons Makes More Sense
Much better
alternative to
arming teachers
by D onald K aul
T h e y 'v e b e e n
h o ld in g h e a rin g s
on gun control up
on C apitol H ill in
W a s h in g to n . It's
alw ays an inspiring
spectacle.
T here are few things as bracing
as w atching terrified law m akers duck
b e h in d th e S eco n d A m e n d m en t
w hile they ju stify th eir lack o f sig­
nificant response to the latest m ass
m u rd er co m m itted by a lunatic w ith
an assau lt rifle. T h ey 'd love to do
som ething about it, you see, bu t the
C onstitution w on't let them .
A s a m atter o f fact, pretty m uch
all the argum ents that gun ad v o ­
cates advance fo r virtually u n lim ­
ited access to guns are pathetic.
T he p rim ary reason cited in the
avalanche o f m ail I receiv ed on the
su b jec t re c e n tly is self-d e fen se .
A pparently, it's a d angerous w orld
out there and only a fool w alks in it
;
, i
w ithout protection.
I can see the attractiveness o f
that argum ent. B u t it essen tially
skirts the m o st im portant g un co n ­
trol issue: restrictin g access to "as­
sault w eap o n s." M ilitary -sty le guns
aren't good fo r m uch except k illing a
lo t o f people quickly.
T hey're too unw ieldy to be a p rac­
tical self-defense tool. A nd d o you
really w ant large num bers o f p eople
w alking into schools, superm arkets,
an d banks w ith w hat am o u n t to
m a c h in e g u n s slu n g o v e r th e ir
sh o u ld e rs?
A s fo r w arding o ff h o m e in v a­
sions, y o u can d o as w ell w ith a
shotgun o r handgun. A nd a ban on
eith er o f those kinds o f w eapons
isn 't o n the table.
T h en there's the m atter o f acces­
sories like high-capacity m agazines
and silencers, w hich the N R A seeks
to sh elter from control. W h at has
that g o t to d o w ith self-d efen se
ag ain st a hom e intruder?
B u t s e lf-d e fe n s e is n o t th e o n ly
j u s t i f i c a t i o n f o r th e S e c o n d
A m e n d m e n t, m y c o rre sp o n d e n ts
in fo rm e d m e. T h e F ra m e rs in ­
te n d e d to a rm th e p e o p le a g a in s t
th e ir g o v e rn m e n t, in c ase it tu rn e d
ty ra n n ic a l, th e y said .
W ell, the C o n stitu tio n w as w rit­
te n 2 2 6 y e a rs ag o a fte r th e R e v o ­
lu tio n a ry W ar. It's e a s y to im a g ­
in e c itiz e n s o f th e tim e fe e lin g a
n e e d to p r o t e c t t h e m s e l v e s
a g a in s t o p p re s sio n .
B ut today it's an u nrealistic and
p aran o id view — and I m ust report
that a lot o f the p eople w ho w rite m e
o n the subject seem very paranoid.
R eally, if w hat you n eed w eapons
fo r is to fight the g overnm ent, sem i­
autom atic w eapons d o n 't cu t it. Y ou
need fully-autom atic m achine guns,
ro ck et launchers, lan d m in es, h eli­
copters, and drones. Is that w hat
th e F ounders had in m in d ? G et seri­
o u s.
B esides, the best d efen se against
tyranny is ro b u st dem ocracy.
T h e N R A d o es h a v e so m e id e as
to p re v e n t th e n e x t N e w to w n —
b a d o n e s. It w a n ts to p u t an a rm e d
g u a rd in e v e ry sch o o l in th e c o u n ­
try , an id e a so im p ra c tic a l as to b e
risible.
It w o u ld c o st a d a m n fo rtu n e ,
fo r o n e th in g . H o w w o u ld w e p a y
fo r it? G u ttin g a rt an d m u sic p ro ­
g ra m s ? A n d w h o w o u ld th e se
g u a rd s b e ? O ff-d u ty p o lic e m e n ?
W e d o n 't h a v e e n o u g h c o p s to go
a ro u n d n o w . M in im u m w ag e re n t-
a -c o p s? R ig h t. T h a t's w h o m y o u
w a n t w a lk in g a ro u n d y o u r sc h o o l
lo c k e d an d lo a d ed .
Som e w ould arm the teaching
staff. T h at ju s t seem s lo o n y to m e.
D o you w ant y o u r kid's science
teacherpretending he's D irty H arry?
I didn't th in k so.
O thers seized upon the id ea o f
b etter screening fo r m ental health
p ro b lem s that m ig h t lead to v io ­
lence.
N ow that's an id ea that has som e
p ro m ise. A ll people w ho b uy o r ow n
w eapons should be req u ired to pass
a p sychological exam b efo re they
g e t s o c ie ty 's p e rm is s io n to g o
around packing heat.
T h ere’s the qu estio n o f w h ether
an assault w eapons ban w ould m ake
m uch d ifference and, sad to say, I
can't guarantee it w ould. T h ere are
too m an y w eapons already ou t there
to th in k shutting o ff the spigot w ill
do the trick.
Still, it w ould b e nice to at least try
som ething, to show w e care.
I f w e care.
OtherWords columnist Donald
Kaul lives in Ann Arbor, Mich.